


the edge of the astronomy tower

by siaaa



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hogwarts Sixth Year, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Short One Shot, Suicidal Thoughts, Triggers, but it's not, but not really, have fun though, it could be if you squinted, kinda sad, love you, lowkey drarry, pls be careful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:27:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27951527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siaaa/pseuds/siaaa
Summary: in the aftermath, harry didn’t understand how no one else had seen draco at the top of the tower.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 13
Kudos: 56





	the edge of the astronomy tower

**Author's Note:**

> hey! this is my first ever drarry fic (or fic at all) so go easy on me. 
> 
> it’s a 6th year one shot and i don’t remember the timeline of the 6th book, but hopefully i didn’t butcher it too bad.
> 
> leave kudos or a comment down below!! i’d cry <3
> 
> much love, sia
> 
> //trigger warning//suicidal thoughts//

Hogwarts didn’t have rain. But today it was cloudy, the sky was angry, and the castle’s magic was grieving. The castle had loved Sirius Black, his laughs and antics beloved by the magic, a harmony that soaked the tapestries. His loss, coupled with the upcoming slow death of the Headmaster crippled the castle’s love.

It loved all its students, some more than the other, but today, it was grieving, and could not bear to lose another student widely beloved by the castle's magic. A few wisps of magic reach out, alerting another, another beloved student, one who the castle’s heart beat for.

Harry Potter looks upward, his eyes searching for lightning in the sky, a phenomenon only in the world outside of Hogwarts. His eyes catch onto a shadow atop the astronomy tower. A lone figure lined in black, standing at the very edge of the tower, bright white hair clear against the darkness of his background.

The castle begs for Harry Potter to save their lonely boy, the magic cracked and broken at the thought of one more lost student.

Harry doesn’t need to be persuaded to save anyone, he’s already running. The teenager clutches the broomstick between his fist and scrambles to reach the astronomy tower, the staircases arranging themselves in help. He trips his way up the last staircase, his haste bruising his toes. Harry bursts through the astronomy doors, and into the sun. There is an artificial sun gleaming in the sky, only visible from the inside of the tower, bathing the balcony in light.

He sees Malfoy at the edge. Malfoy. Malfoy. Malfoy?

“Malfoy. What, what are you doing?”

The answer seems obvious, as Malfoy sways on the edge of the tower.

“Always catching me at the worst times, huh Potter?”

And the older teenager turns slightly, tears streaming down his cheeks, but a wry smile on his pretty face. His robes are open, but with no shirt inside, revealing the ropey scars left by Harry in the bathroom.

Harry winces, but cannot help but watch as Malfoy turns back to the sky, head raised upwards.

“Come down, Malfoy.”

There’s no response.

“C’mon. This isn’t the answer.”

There’s no response.

“I’ve been looking for you all day. I didn’t think you’d be here.”

This catches Malfoy's attention, and the boy turns again, just his head this time. His jawline sharpens against the blue sky, and Harry can only see half his face this way, but he continues talking, too scared that Malfoy would turn back around.

“I think the castle told me you were here. I looked up, and I just saw you. Maybe you could come down and greet me? Like a man?”

“Like a man? Like a man?” Malfoy repeats, almost swallowing the words, “I’m not a man. I’m a boy” he spits. “I am sixteen years old. I’m a kid, Potter. Not a man.”

“I'm a kid too, Malfoy.”

“Yes,” he agrees, nodding. His head turns back to the clouds.

“Are you going to tell me why you’re standing there?” Harry pushes, his mind scrambling for a solution. He could send a patronus to McGonagall, but that would spook Malfoy, and Harry decides against it, once again taking the weight of the world onto his own shoulders.

“No. No, I don't think so.” Malfoy responds, his voice faraway and hollow.

Harry creeps closer to the boy, careful to keep quiet, “I'll tell you why I'd want to jump off the tower, if you tell me.” Harry says suddenly, sure that this exchange of information would tempt bully malfoy.

Malfoy’s quiet.

“I’ll go first then. My godfather died six months ago. He was all I had left. He’d promised to take me from the Dursleys, but that’s moot point now. My parents are dead, but I guess that’s old news. I’ve got a prophecy that says I can't live if Voldemort's dead. If I’m not jumping off, I don't think you can.” Harry's out of breath in the end, his chest hurting and eyes wet.

Malfoy flinches at the mention of Voldemort, the red eyes flashing in his memories.

He doesn't respond to Harry's words immediately, eyes unfocused. And there’s a beat, a pause, a breath, and Malfoy's mouth opens.

“I’ve got a task. I've got to hurt someone. Someone important. More than hurt. I've got to kill them. I've hurt other people along the way. The wrong people,” he sounds like he’s recited this before, “If I don’t kill them, if I don’t complete my task, he’ll kill my parents. He’ll kill them. And I can't be the reason my parents die.” Malfoy’s tears have dried on his cheeks and his fists are clenched at his side, face stoic & void of emotion.

“Well,” Harry says, wryly, “join the club.”

Malfoy lets out a sudden laugh, the sound breaking the angry silence of the tower.

“I, I appreciate that, Potter.”

“Harry.”

“Harry,” Draco affirms.

“So why the sun? I couldn’t see it from the bottom of the tower.” Harry's on a roll, one question answered, why not a few others?

And Draco wants to answer now, he wants Potter, Harry, to understand why he wants to throw himself off this godforsaken tower.

“When I die, I want to see the sun.”

Harry nods, understanding the response, but he forgets his place, “then don’t die. Don’t do it. Get off the edge.”

Draco turns his head, almost turns his body, and stares at the other teenager. He watches the other boy watch him like he’s a scared cat.

Draco asks tiredly, “why won’t you just let me die?”

Harry doesn’t know exactly why, but he understands one thing, “it’s not your time yet.”

Draco wants to know when his time is. He wants to know when the pain will stop, he wants to know when the angry letters from his weak father will stop, he wants to know when the pleading letters from his strong mother will stop, he wants to know when it will _stop_.

“Potter. Harry. I need the pain to stop. I need, I need, I need you to save my parents, Harry. They can’t die. They’ll die if you don’t save them.”

Harry stares at him, eyebrows furrowed a little, “save them with me. we’ll make the pain stop,” Harry promises, a hand outreached.

Draco looks at the brown hand reaching towards him and sways forward, unsure about his decision now. He'd been so determined, so determined to pitch himself off this tower, to stop that voice in his head from eating him alive. But he’s unsure now, the kindness of his enemy (was he really the enemy?) unsettling.

Draco leans forward, ready to grip Harry's hand when a scream reverberates through the tower. It scares Draco and he topples backward, balance lost.

Harry's impulsive and once again forgets that not all people can be saved. He watches as the swatch of platinum hair tips off the side of the tower, and Harry lunges forward, no logical thought in his head except to save this boy. and he jumps off the edge of the tower, hurtling through the air.

His hands clutch the broomstick he’d made sure to take as he’d jumped off the tower and Harry leaps onto it, a move he’d perfected over the summer. Harry leans forward on the stick, attempting to go as fast as he can to catch up to the other boy as he falls through the air.

The wind whips through his hair, and Harry feels as if he’s in the middle of a Quidditch game, soaring at break-neck speeds towards the snitch. But instead, he sees Draco Malfoy falling through the hair, his robes whipping around. The older boy is silent as he falls through the air, but other people scream as they watch him plummet.

Harry leans forward, intent on catching Draco before he hits the ground. And then Harry has one hand clutched on the back of Draco's robes. He pulls and pulls, clenching his legs tightly around the broomstick, careful to keep his balance. But Draco is too heavy and both boys fall towards the ground, the broomstick simply slowing the fall.

“Harry, Harry, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,” the words are whispered and Harry does not hear them, but Draco chants his prayer at the beautiful teen for trying. For trying so hard to catch him, to save him. He’s lost hope, waiting for the ground to hit him, the sun blotted out by the clouds above him, and simply shadows below him.

Harry is successful, however, as the broomstick slows the fall just enough that hitting the ground is not fatal, rather it’s simply just backbreaking (a job for Madam Pomfrey to fix). The two boys slam against the ground, tangled around each other. They pass out instantly from the pain, but they’re alive. They’re alive. The castle and her magic rejoice. And although the year would prove to be innumerably difficult, the two boys are alive, and well enough to breathe enough for each other.

**Author's Note:**

> this wasn’t beta’d so if you want to add some british slang .. or… fix the grammar, leave a comment! (plz)


End file.
